Archive for the 'The Dillards' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

In the roughly two years since he last appeared at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Steve Martin has played for the president, delighted audiences at Bonnaroo and New Orleans' Jazzfest, racked up better reviews for his five-string skills than for some of his comedies this past decade, and walked off with a deserved Grammy (his fourth overall) for his first collection of self-penned music.

“Later I found out I had actually won it,” he joked Thursday night, a few songs into his terrific return to the main hall at the Costa Mesa arts complex.

Yet, as the star of Father of the Bride and It's Complicated and the coming bird-watching comedy The Big Year told this capacity crowd at Segerstrom Hall, he recognizes that the notion itself – an evening of Martin on banjo, accompanied by sterling North Carolina quintet the Steep Canyon Rangers – can still be a head-scratcher.

He likened it to a couple opening their morning paper and making an unusual discovery: “Oh look, honey … I see Jerry Seinfeld is doing an evening of original songs he's written for the bassoon. We've got to go see that! Because that's what he does best!”

Well, banjo picking actually is one of the things Martin does best. Having picked up the bluegrass staple in his teenage years while growing up in Garden Grove – where he would see the Dillards in nearby Anaheim and listen endlessly to 1963's Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall – the budding banjo enthusiast would rapidly develop into a world-class player.